Credit: Matt West

As if the bitter cold isn’t bad enough, the frigid temperatures have reminded aggravated drivers across the Hub that it’s pothole season once again.

In South Boston yesterday, the big crater at East 1st and M streets had drivers swerving.

“That one’s a tough one because if you’re coming down the street it’s really hard to avoid. You’re trying to avoid traffic the other way or a pothole,” said Craig Nelson, a 39-year-old sales rep who lives in South Boston.

Nelson navigates his Maxima “really slow” on city streets.

“There are some pretty deep ones, especially right now, in the winter,” said Nelson. “You really have to drive slow. They’re there, and some of them are pretty deep.”

At one point, a city worker drove up and snapped a photo of the pothole, promising that it would be fixed today.

And as any driver who has hit one knows, potholes can be pricey.

A “good pothole hit today” can run about $3,000, said Frank Fitzpatrick, owner of Fitzpatrick Brothers, an auto body shop in Dorchester.

Fitzpatrick is bracing for more pothole-damaged vehicles in March and April. “It’s by that time in the winter, with the constant freezing and thawing, that the bigger holes open up,” he said.

Renee Rasinski, a 51-year-old dog walker from South Boston, tries her best to avoid potholes so she doesn’t lose a tire or damage a rim on her minivan.

“It’s worse after the snow. There are some big ones on L Street too,” Rasinski said. “It’s dangerous — driving, walking. If it’s at night and you’re crossing the street, and there’s a pothole, you could break a leg.”